The Girl In The Basement
by Meegs82
Summary: A mysterious case brings Brennan face to face with some personal issues...including some she didn't even know she had. Drama and Angst with the whole team. Perhaps some B&B fluff. This was my first fanfic ever, written a few months ago.
1. Chapter 1

**This was my first fanfic ever. I wrote it a few months ago and I am just now posting it on FanFic. I will post in chapters. Please enjoy! And review!**

**CHAPTER 1**

Dr. Temperance Brennan sat at her computer, clicking away at the keyboard. Her brown hair was wavy today and it framed her face as she smiled at the screen. A small box on the screen said: Mikey0076: I will pick you up around 8.

In response, BrenDoc: That should be fine.

Temperance smiled slightly, amused by Mikey0076 and his seemingly neverending charm. As she typed Goodbye, I'll see you tonight, Seeley Booth waltzed through the door.

"There's my Bones," he said with his full on charm smile.

Startled, Temperance clicked the box to close it. Nervously, she turned to Booth.

"What's up?" she asked, a little flustered. He noticed it.

"What were you doing on there?"

"Nothing. Work, what else?" Brennan replied, trying (and failing) to hide her nervousness.

"Are you dating online again?" Booth asked, a quizzical and concerned look on his face.

"It's really none of your business, now is it?" she bit back.

"Bones, that stuff is for desperate people who can't find a partner in the real world, so they get online and pray that they'll find the love of their life in the virtual world and in the meantime, have meaningless sex with numerous partners."

Temperance looked at her computer and then back at Booth, with a slight pout tugging at the corners of her lips. That had hurt her feelings. Booth didn't mean it like it probably sounded. He had meant that OTHER people are desperate, not her.

"Bones, I didn't mean that you're desperate," he tried to recover. She pursed her lips, widened her eyes, and nodded her head as if to say "yeah, sure," but no words escaped her mouth. "Seriously, I didn't mean to, you know, offend you. I hope you know I don't think that about you because you…could, well, never be 'desperate.'" He was grasping for anything to make her feel better. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked over at her, wishing she would say something. She sure is quiet for being in the middle of an argument he thought to himself.

Arms folded across her chest, she sat and stared up at Booth, clearly annoyed. "Booth, I realize that you're a Luddite, but online chatting is often a very good way to establish a connection with someone without all of the awkwardness that goes along with a first date. Then you meet and the connection continues from there. It's a fascinating comment about our culture," she explained very matter-of-factly as she stood up from her chair.

"Okay, Bones, now you just sound like a dweeb. And I like being technology free, thank you very much," Booth replied, pointing his finger in her direction.

Brennan paused for a moment, furrowing her brow. "Did you just call me a dweeb?"

"Yes, yes I did."

"How old are you? Eight?"

"Okay, forget it, Bones. You're going on a date with some guy you met online. Fantastic. I'm so happy for you. Now, moving on to more pressing issues…we have a case."

Booth breezed past Brennan to her coat rack and grabbed her brown leather jacket. She turned to him, arms folded and said, "Why didn't you just say that instead of criticizing my dating habits?" He took her blue lab coat off of her and slipped on her jacket as she talked.

"I thought I said to forget it, Bones."

"Well, I was just wondering," she replied. She paused for a moment, staying in her place as Booth headed toward her office door. "What did you mean, I could never be desperate?" she asked, genuinely confused.

Booth looked at her with his classic can-we-please-just-move-on look he shot Hodgins and Zack on a daily basis. "You can't just let it go, can you? Always have to have the last word?" He smiled sarcastically.

"No, I'm being serious. What did you mean by that?"

"Last word…as always. That's my Temperance," his smile dripped with sarcasm. He had obviously meant that she was too beautiful and brilliant to EVER be desperate for a man's attention, but he thought ignoring her question would be more fun. "Alright, now how about that case? Let's go." He walked back over to Temperance whose arms were still folded across her chest as if someone had glued them there. He took a hold of her shoulders and maneuvered her toward the door of her office.

"Booth, wait, you didn't answer my question," she pondered, looking back at him. He simply smiled and continued to nudge her through the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Brennan had given up interrogating Booth over what he had meant by his comment and he had just begun filling her in on the case as they got into the SUV.

"There was an undercover agent who had been working this case for nearly a year. He was about to make a huge bust. This guy, Johnny Red, has a rap sheet 5 pages long. Drugs, soliciting sex, robbery. Agent Peters was Johnny's head dealer. He also managed the financials on his whorehouse," Booth explained as he drove.

"And this Johnny Red? The FBI thinks he is one of the victims?" Brennan asked. "And Agent Peters is the other one?"

"Yeah, that's how it looks. But obviously, we don't want to jump to any conclusions and that's why you're coming," he replied, smiling. He had read her mind. Jumping to conclusions was never a good idea.

"You know Cullen will have to wait for the IDs and not push an open and shut case?" Brennan said, knowing how the FBI likes to wrap up cases having to do with their own very quickly.

"Yes, he knows, Bones. He knows you're brilliant and you need the time with the remains."

"Just making sure because you know how much I hate the pressure of identifying someone when they are so sure they know who it is. I just don't want to deal with it," she said, still irked from their earlier argument.

"Don't worry about it, Bones. You do your thing and Hodgins will do his bug thing and Angela will do her Angelator thing and all will be good. Why are you so concerned? We haven't even gotten to the crime scene yet?" Booth asked her.

"I'm not concerned; I just know how the FBI gets when it deals with its own agents in criminal investigations," she explained.

"Yeah, I know," Booth agreed.

Silence fell on the SUV. Brennan thought about her conversation with Mike online and had started contemplating what she would wear for her date when Booth slammed on the brakes. The seat belt sliced into her ribcage and she groaned in pain.

"Ow! What was that about?" she asked, clearly annoyed.

Booth looked embarrassed. He had been thinking about her dating online and it made him mad. But why? She could date anyone she pleased, there were no strings between the two of them. But oh, how he would love to be able to approve each and every guy she went on a date with. He had been imagining how he would interrogate this new guy, given the chance, and then he noticed that the stoplight in front of him was not green, but actually quite red.

"Sorry, Bones. Thought it was green," he glanced sheepishly over at her. "Sorry. Are you okay?"

"And you say I'm a bad driver," she replied, rubbing the left side of her ribcage where the seat belt had caught her. "I'm fine."

"Hey, I never said you were a bad driver. Are you sure you're okay? 'Cause you look like you're in pain," he said as he started to reach over to her, but thought the better of it. A honk caught his attention.

"Now it's green," Brennan shot back at him as she raised her hand toward the stoplight, a classic Brennan-esque smirk on her face.

"Ha-ha," Booth accelerated quite a bit faster than he could have and Brennan continued smirking. She had gotten the last word…again.

&&&&&&&&

The building was crawling with FBI agents. A fire truck was parked beside the building and the firemen were packing up to leave. Two windows from the building were charred with black from the fire that had just been put out.

Booth pulled up and parked across the street. He and Brennan got out of the car and made their way to the entrance. Yellow caution tape and barricades greeted them as police were keeping curious bystanders away from the building.

Booth flashed his badge, "Special Agent Seeley Booth. This is Dr. Temperance Brennan. We're here to examine the remains."

"Right through here," an agent responded as he lifted the caution tape for them to duck under. "The guy next door who owns the barber shop called it in at 6:23 this morning. He said he just glanced outside and there were flames coming out of the windows. Firemen just got the thing put out."

They walked down a hallway and into a larger room where two sets of charred bones now resided. One set of remains were sitting upright in a chair while the other were on the floor, approximately five feet from the first set.

"Okay, thanks," Booth told the agent.

Dr. Brennan took in her surroundings before heading towards the bones. The building was fairly small and was really just made up of a couple of rooms and this one large room where the bones had been found. Brennan scanned the large room: table, chairs, fridge, two couches, large filing cabinets.

"What kind of place is this? It doesn't appear that anyone lives here," Brennan wondered aloud as she put her hair up in a ponytail.

"Well, if this is Johnny Red, then most likely, this is his headquarters," Booth replied.

"Like where he dealt the drugs and did his pimping?" Brennan asked.

"Did his pimping? That just doesn't sound right coming from you, Bones," Booth replied.

"What? That's what you said he did," Brennan replied genuinely.

"Yeah, I know, but that just," he caught himself mid-sentence, "You know what, why don't you just take a look at the bones, ok?" He pointed in the direction of the charred remains.

Brennan took her gloves out of her pocket and pulled them on. Booth stood aside to let the forensic anthropologist work. Brennan bent over to examine the set of bones in the chair.

"The first victim is male, age 30-35, approximately 6'3".

The arms were tied behind the back and the neck was in an awkward position. Brennan gently lifted the skull and squinted at the back of the neck.

"This man's neck was broken. It's clear right here," she pointed at a spot on the back of the neck as Booth leaned over to look. "His arms were tied behind his back and someone snapped his neck. The cervical vertebra is cracked."

"So he was dead before the fire was set?" Booth asked.

"Yes. He was killed instantly from the injury," Brennan replied. She moved toward the other set of remains. She examined the entire skeleton, "The second victim is also male, age 36-40, approximately 5'10". No sign of any injuries to the neck or—" she stopped short, kneeling down again and looking at the arm bones. Her eyes squinted, and she reached down and pulled out a necklace from the victim's grasp. It was a gold heart, about a half an inch in diameter with a small diamond in the lower right corner. Brennan froze in her spot, staring at the necklace.

"What is it, Bones?" Booth inquired, leaning over to try to get a look.

Brennan ignored Booth's question and continued focusing intently at the necklace. The expression on her face was a mixture of confusion, hurt, and pain. Memories flooded through her brain. She remembered back to her 8th grade graduation when her father had given her a beautiful heart necklace with a diamond in the corner. It was identical to the one she was now staring at, 17 years later. Brennan still had her necklace in her keepsake boxes, so it could not be the exact one, but it was literally identical. Brennan racked her brain to try and comprehend the evidence she had just found. Nothing came to her. She was absolutely baffled.

"Bones? Hey, what's going on, what is that?" Booth continued to try to capture his partner's attention.

She snapped out of her reverie and said, "Can you bag this?" to another agent, still ignoring Booth. "I'm going to need it back at the Jeffersonian for analysis," she told the agent, "but I would like to transport it back, if you don't mind."

"Bones, earth to Bones?" Booth tried.

She was about to reply when suddenly she stopped. "Shhh!" she yelled. "Do you hear that?" she asked, turning to Booth and holding her arms in the air as if to block out all other noises.

"Hear what?" he said, leaning his head in toward her.

"Can everyone please be quiet for a minute? Everyone just stop where you are and don't move," Brennan ordered, intent on listening for something. Her eyes darted around as she tried to ascertain where the sound had come from. The agents looked confused, but they did as they were told. It was completely silent for about 8 seconds when all of a sudden, there was a detectable scratching noise coming from underneath the second body.

"What the hell is that?" Booth asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

Brennan knelt back down by the second set of remains. There were remnants of a rug underneath the body and Brennan saw the outlining of a small door beneath the remnants. She did not want to compromise her bones, but the remains had to be moved in order to get to this door.

"We need to move these remains, but it has to be done extremely carefully. I cannot have the remains compromised," she ordered to the entire room of agents. Nobody moved. Clearly annoyed, Brennan spoke again, "Can someone who is in charge of handling the remains help out here?"

"Come on, who's in charge? Let's go, let's go," Booth joined in, clapping his hands. Two agents stepped forward and carefully moved the remains. A trap door was revealed. It had a latch and a padlock. "We need some boxcutters over here now!" Booth grumbled.

Almost instantly, an agent appeared with the boxcutters. Booth took them and broke through the padlock with ease. Brennan opened the door.

&&&&&&&&&&

Brennan waited for Booth and his gun before proceeding through the door. There was a set of steps that led down. Booth crouched on the ground, gun in hand, and started down the steps. Brennan followed closely behind him.

"You know, another agent should really go with me," Booth said, gun pointed directly ahead of him.

"I always go with you. Plus I have to hold the flashlight," she said as she flipped the switch of the flashlight to on.

"Okay, just follow my lead," Booth said.

"Booth, do you know how many times we have done this? You don't have to tell me these things anymore," Brennan replied.

"Okay, fine. Just…nevermind," Booth replied, gritting his teeth.

Brennan shined the light so that Booth could see where he was going. There were 8 steps in all. Once they were at the bottom, Booth called out, "FBI, show yourself." Nothing happened. It was one large, very dark room. Brennan shined the light around one half and saw a sink, a freezer, and some towels. The scratching noise came again. Both Brennan and Booth jumped at the sound. Brennan shined the light on the other half of the room. It was not a very strong flashlight, but there was no denying what she and Booth saw.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

"Oh my God," Booth said aloud as he lowered his gun and darted forward towards where Brennan was shining the light. She followed.

In the corner of the room were a cot and a radiator. Handcuffed to the radiator was a young girl. Brennan imagined she was in her early 20s. She was dressed only in a long white shirt. Brennan watched as Booth leaned down and brushed the auburn hair out of her face. Brennan then called up the stairs, "We need a paramedic. And the boxcutters."

Booth shook the girl gently and she stirred. "Hey, hey, wake up. I'm the FBI, you're going to be alright now, okay?"

The girl moved her head and tried to open her eyes. The light from the flashlight was unbearable and she squinted as she raised her hand in front of her eyes. Brennan saw the lacerations on her hand and forearm. They were deep and in need of immediate medical attention. Brennan saw the girl wince at the light and she immediately turned off the flashlight.

Another agent brought down the boxcutters and Booth cut the handcuffs in half. He picked the girl up in his arms and headed toward the steps.

"Be careful, Booth, we don't know what kind of injuries she has sustained," Brennan told him gently as he made his way up the stairs. He nodded. Brennan watched the girl, looking over her injuries. She could see more lacerations on her other arm and her legs. By the look of it, her left wrist was broken, Brennan concluded. Her neck was black and blue. Brennan's heart sank and she suddenly felt like throwing up, but kept from doing so.

The paramedics got there just as Booth came up the stairs with the girl. They placed her on a stretcher and wheeled her out.

"Set up downstairs, it's a crime scene now, too," Booth instructed the agents. He turned back to Brennan. "We'll need to question her when she's up to it."

"I wonder how long she's been down there. She had multiple lacerations on her arms and legs. She had hematomas all down her neck," Brennan said, a look of disgust and pure sympathy on her face.

Booth could tell Bones was especially shaken up by the sight of the young girl. She was usually able to handle things pretty well, but she seemed genuinely concerned. "Hey, we'll figure everything out. You know that, right?" He said to her calmly.

"Yes, it's just…" she paused as she thought of what the girl could have possibly gone through, "…terrible. How can a person do things like that to another human being?" Temperance was mortified. She had seen so much in her career as an anthropologist. She had identified the remains of thousands of people killed in horrible, horrendous ways. But it was not that often that she saw the actual suffering of those people. She saw the terror in the girl's eyes; she saw her injuries; she knew that she had suffered and was still suffering…and she was flesh and blood, still breathing…not some pile of bones. That was what caused Brennan to react the way she did. She was not used to seeing living, breathing humans suffer like that. She was only used to seeing the end result.

"Come on, Bones, Hodgins can start on the, well, what he does. Zack can start on the causes of death and Angela can start the IDs. Let's you and I go take a breather, okay?" Booth said, putting his arm on her shoulder and squeezing it gently.

Brennan looked over at him, teary-eyed and said, "Yeah, okay."

&&&&&&&&&&

"Hi, Mike. It's Temperance. I'm so sorry, but I am going to have to cancel our date for tonight," Brennan spoke into her cell phone as she and Booth pulled up to the Royal Diner. "Something has come up at work and I just…" she trailed off, and closed her eyes for a moment, thinking of the young girl, "I will give you a call," she finally managed to say. "Alright, bye." She pressed the end button and glanced over at the clock. 4:56.

On a normal day, Booth would have teased her about the date and how she had to cancel because of work. Angela would have told her she was crazy for choosing work over a guy. But today was very different. Dr. Temperance Brennan was in some sort of state of shock.

"Hey, you okay?" Booth asked her gently.

Brennan sighed and looked over at him. "I don't know what it is. That girl was hurt…badly. And I guess I'm just…I don't know. I deal with bones, even if the person suffered a horrible death, I deal with their bones. I'm not used to seeing those types of injuries on a living, breathing, human being," Brennan replied, tears welling in her eyes. "I wasn't expecting that."

Booth watched his partner as she spoke. There was a quiver in her voice that he had only heard a few times. And one time was when she had thought Russ had bled to death in her apartment. It seemed to Booth that Brennan felt some sort of connection to this girl, although she would never admit to that because there was no such thing as a spiritual connection as Brennan saw it.

Brennan looked down at the evidence bag on her lap. The necklace had miraculously survived the fire. She held it up and looked at it through the bag.

"What about that necklace? Why didn't you answer me when I asked you about it?" Booth inquired.

Brennan sighed as she set it back in her lap. She made the decision to tell Booth. "It jolted me because my father gave me an identical necklace when I was 14. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and I just, well, froze," she explained.

He reached his hand over as he did occasionally and squeezed her shoulder again. "We are going to figure this all out. We'll find out about the necklace and how that girl got there and things will be okay again, alright?" Booth wanted so badly to cheer her up. She seemed so shaken.

Brennan paused for a moment and wiped her eyes. "Yeah, I know. Let's go eat. We're having a breather, right?"

"Taking a breather, Bones, taking a breather, not having," Booth replied as he laughed and smiled at this partner.

"Right, that's what I meant," Brennan replied as she hopped out of the SUV.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Angela had decided to not talk about the emotional part of the incidents of the day and skipped right to the Angelator.

"After the facial reconstruction, there is no doubt that the victims were Johnny Red Ramos and Agent Mark Peters," Angela said as the Angelator came to life, displaying 2 different faces that matched Johnny and Peters indefinitely. "The man in the chair with the broken neck is Agent Peters and the other man is Johnny Red. Dental records will confirm it."

"Great, thanks Angela," Brennan said without much feeling in her voice.

"Okay, enough of the facts here. Will you please talk to me, sweetie?" Angela prodded.

"There's nothing to talk about, Ang. I just let this case get to me, that's all. I shouldn't have, it's not rational. I'll be fine. The doctor said that the girl is going to be fine, so I'm fine," Brennan said, trying to convince herself more than anything.

"And everything is going to be fine. We're all fine," Angela said sarcastically, yet genuinely. Brennan shot her a "Brennan" look. "Look, it's okay to be shaken up over something like that. This girl, by the sound of it, was in bad shape and you had to actually see that. Think about it this way, if it weren't for you, she probably would have died down there," Angela reassured Brennan as she turned the Angelator off.

Brennan looked at her friend intently. "I don't know, it was strange. I saw her and I felt something inside of me just…I don't know. It's like I felt, well, connected to her somehow. It isn't rational, it doesn't make any sense, but I felt like I knew her. Like it was some sort of alternate universe where I should have been able to see this coming and stop it," Brennan finished.

Angela looked stunned. She had never heard her friend talk like this. She was Miss Science and Rationale.

"Did I really just say all of that?" Brennan had shocked even herself.

"Yes, you sure did. Things don't always have to make sense and be rational. Love isn't rational, emotions aren't rational. People are quite frequently, extremely irrational. That's what makes us human. We're soft and mushy inside," Angela explained.

"But I don't even know this girl. Why would I react that way? It isn't-"

Angela cut her off, "Rational, I know, sweetie."

Brennan smiled. She glanced at her watch. 10:12. "I've got to meet Booth at the hospital. We're supposed to talk to the girl," she informed Angela as she headed back into her office and grabbed her jacket.

"Call me later?" Angela asked.

"Of course," Brennan said with a slight smile and left Angela starting after her in her office.

"Emma Branson, age 26," Booth told Brennan as they walked down the hallway of the critical care wing of the hospital. "She left her house on October 10th, the day before her birthday, when someone jumped her and knocked her out. Next thing she knows, she's handcuffed to a radiator right where we found her," Booth continued, "she left out quite a bit of what happened while she was in that basement, but that's to be expected. She has been through a lot."

"She's been down there almost 2 weeks," Brennan realized as it was October 22nd. She shuttered at the thought, but was silently relieved that it hadn't been any longer.

"Yeah, and it doesn't end there. She was one of Johnny's girls. You know, a hooker. She just started working for him 6 months ago," Booth added. They stopped just outside one of the rooms. "This is her room. I told the doctor to wait until you arrived to fill you in on her condition. Are you sure you can handle this?" Booth asked, concerned.

"Of course I can handle this, Booth. I'm a big girl," Brennan was trying to forget about her emotional reaction from earlier.

"You've just been shaken up all day, I was worried," Booth replied.

"I'm fine, Booth. I've handled plenty of situations worse than this," Brennan replied in a slightly harsher tone than she had originally planned. "Do we know anything about the necklace yet?" Brennan added.

"I thought you were on top of that," Booth replied, feeling like he had done something wrong. Brennan looked at him, slightly annoyed. "Sorry, I know you've been preoccupied. I'll get on it," he added. "She said she knows who jumped her, that it was one of Johnny's dealers named E. At least that's what people called him. An agent is bringing her photo album. She said there are pictures of him and then maybe we can identify him. When we find him, we'll get the murderer," Booth continued, still staring at his partner as she glanced in the other direction.

"How did she not hear anything? I mean, when the fire was set. Did she hear anything going on?" Brennan asked.

"She said she heard a scuffle and smelled the smoke, but she lost consciousness soon after. Smoke inhalation, no doubt," Booth replied.

Brennan was still so confused and her head was now fuzzy, reeling over what she had seen and over the necklace. It just couldn't be explained. But she had to figure it out.

Zack was hunched over the second set of remains. He had already determined that Agent Peters' cause of death was from the snapping of his neck, most likely from another human being. He had just moved on to the second set of remains, which were Johnny "Red" Ramos.

Angela and Hodgins appeared on the platform. "I don't know, she just seems more affected than usual. I mean, I know I would completely freak out if I found a girl hovering in a dark corner of a basement with horrible injuries…I can't even think about it. But Bren is different, we all know that," Angela told Hodgins.

"It does seem strange. Dr. Brennan has been in mass graves all over the world," Hodgins added.

"I'm just worried about her. At least Booth is with her. He'll take care of her. I just don't want her to-" Angela was cut off by Zack

"Oh my God," Zack said loudly. Both Angela and Hodgins turned to him as if noticing he was there for the first time since they had arrived.

"What is it?" Angela asked Zack.

Zack pulled something out of the mouth with a pair of tweezers and placed it under the magnifier. The screen was filled with the image of the object he had found. He stared at it without looking back at Angela and Hodgins, knowing full well that they would figure it out in an instant. Angela's jaw dropped and Hodgins glared, wide-eyed at the screen. What seemed like a minute, but was about 10 seconds, went by until Angela finally said, "I'll call Brennan."


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

Booth and Brennan were sitting in chairs outside of Emma Branson's room, waiting for the doctor to come out when Brennan's phone rang. She looked at the caller id. It read "Dr. Temperance Brennan." Knowing someone was calling from her own office, she answered, "Brennan."

"Bren, sweetie, you're on speaker phone with Zack and Hodgins," Angela said.

"Okay, what's going on?" Brennan asked.

"Dr. Brennan, it's Dr. Addy," Zack spoke over Angela. Hodgins and Angela shot each other a look as Zack spoke the words. "I have determined the cause of death of Agent Peters. His cervical vertebra was snapped. He did not die in the fire," Zack…Dr. Addy informed her.

"Yes," she paused for a moment and looked over at Booth, "Dr. Addy, we had already confirmed that. What about the other victim?" she asked.

"Well, Hodgins-"

"That would be Dr. Hodgins," Hodgins added. Zack glared at him and Angela would have laughed had the situation been very different.

"Dr. Hodgins has declared that he died of third degree burns from being set on fire," Zack informed Brennan.

"Okay, great work," Brennan said as she was about to hang up.

"Wait, sweetie, there's more," Angela added, a grim tone in her voice.

Brennan narrowed her eyes. "What is it?"

Angela looked over at Hodgins, who gave her an encouraging nod. "Zack found something…he found something in Johnny Red's mouth."

There was silence.

"What did he find?" Brennan asked.

Angela hesitated, glancing once again at Hodgins, but she pushed on. "Sweetie, he found a Columbus coin."

Brennan's heart sank and the expression on her face changed from questioning to utter astonishment as she looked over at Booth. Booth saw the change in her demeanor and he became worried. He mouthed the words, "what is it?"

Brennan focused her attention back to the team while still looking at Booth. "That's my father's calling card," Brennan explained quickly. Booth looked genuinely concerned as he mouthed the word, "Columbus" and Brennan nodded.

"I know, Bren, we just thought we should tell you," Angela replied.

"No, of course, thank you. I just don't understand," Brennan responded. "Call me if you find anything else."

"Of course, sweetie. Bye," Angela said as a wave of nausea came over her.

"Bye," Brennan said and turned to Booth. "They found a Columbus coin in Johnny Red's mouth."

"Yeah, I got that. It doesn't make any sense," Booth was flabbergasted.

"Why would my father be warning people to stay away from me when I don't even have anything to do with this Johnny Red?" Brennan inquired, searching her brain for some sort of possible explanation. "And why was an identical necklace to mine in Johnny Red's hand?" Brennan had never been so confused.

Booth was equally perplexed. "I don't know, Bones, but I'm on it," he said as he picked up his cell phone and had Cullen on the line within seconds.

Brennan stood up and started pacing in front of the chairs. She didn't know what to think or even where to begin to think. I don't know him, my father shouldn't be doing this, what on earth is going on here? She was in the middle of her trance when Emma's room door opened and the doctor came out.

"Temperance?" The man asked and Temperance turned to meet his gaze. Booth got off the phone and centered his attention on the two doctors.

"Mike? Um…hi. You're a doctor?" Brennan was taken aback.

"Yes, I am. Sorry I didn't mention that. I thought we would get to that on our date. When you cancelled, I decided to take on an extra shift. So, what are you doing here?" Mike questioned.

"Oh, I am working on a case with," she paused a moment. "This is my partner, Special Agent Seeley Booth. This is Mike…what's your last name?" Brennan asked, embarrassed.

He pointed to his lab coat. "Chambers. Dr. Mike Chambers, nice to meet you," he shook Booth's hand.

"Yeah, you too. We need a report on the girl," Booth was in no mood for chit-chat, especially since the doctor on the case was Temperance's online fling.

"Right, of course. So, you're the doctor I've been waiting on. Wow, small world," Mike (aka Dr. Chambers) said, shifting papers in his hand. "Miss Branson has suffered many injuries, but none are life threatening. She has multiple lacerations to her hands, arms, legs, and feet. Most likely from a wire," Dr. Chambers began to explain. "Luckily, she had not slipped into sepsis; we were able to prevent that from happening. There were traces of barbiturates found in her blood and there were some abnormalities with her cell count. We are conducting further tests to find out what is causing them."

Brennan winced at the thought of being struck dozens of times with a rusty wire. She felt nauseous.

"There was a spool of wire found in the basement on the scene," Booth informed Dr. Chambers.

"Well, I wish the injuries ended there," Dr. Chambers continued.

Brennan braced herself for what was to come. Why was she having such a hard time with this? She didn't even know this Emma Branson.

"Her left wrist is broken and she has numerous hematomas on her neck. It appears that she was strangled fairly recently, probably earlier today. She is very lucky that the injuries were not fatal. Temperance, you are the expert in this area, you can probably determine the circumstances of her injuries," Dr. Chambers turned his attention to Brennan.

She had been listening, but was in a daze. She hadn't realized that he was speaking directly to her until it was obvious that she was upset at this news. "Yes, that's what we are here to do, figure out what happened to Emma and to her apparent captors. They have been positively identified as Johnny Red Ramos and Mark Peters," she said, looking toward Booth.

"There is more," Dr. Chambers continued, his eyes glancing down toward his feet and then back up again. "There were signs of sexual assault. A rape exam has been performed and the DNA has been submitted and we will have the results in a few days," he finished.

Brennan looked as though she were about to collapse. Booth jumped right in, "Okay, thank you, Dr. Chambers. Is it alright if we go in and speak with Miss Branson?" Booth asked as he moved closer to Brennan so as to keep her from falling over.

"Yes, but please be careful with what you say. She has been through a lot," Dr. Chambers replied. "Temperance, I will call you so we can reschedule."

Brennan was barely paying attention. "Yes, that sounds good," she said half-heartedly. Dr. Chambers walked off, smiling at her.

Booth knew that Bones was not doing well. She was lost in her own world and he did not want her to fall deeper into it. Now that her father was a factor, things could get much worse. "Bones, you ready to do this? Or do you want to sit this one out?" He asked her, holding onto her shoulder.

Brennan teetered on one leg and slowly brought her eyes to his and replied, "Yes, I can do it. I just, I told Angela I didn't know why I was feeling like this, that I just felt some sort of strange connection to Emma. I can't explain it, it's not rational," Brennan was utterly perplexed.

"You called her Emma twice. You never do that," Booth told Brennan.

"That's her name, isn't it? Emma Branson," she replied.

"Yes, but you said it as though you know her," Booth pondered.

"I don't know, Booth. I just told you how I feel. Let's get in there and talk to her. Maybe she can fill in the missing pieces about what my father has to do with this," Brennan replied with a sense of urgency as she headed toward Emma's room.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

The room was lit by a single fluorescent light above the hospital bed. Emma was propped up in the bed. Her auburn, shoulder-length hair was flattened against her head. Her left wrist was braced in a cast and there were dressings covering her legs and arms. Given the circumstances, she looked quite a bit better than when Booth and Brennan had found her.

Brennan entered first, followed closely by Booth. Emma looked over as they came in.

"More questions for me?" she addressed them both.

"Hi Emma, I'm Seeley Booth and this is Dr. Temperance Brennan," Booth said calmly. "We aren't here to ask you any details, we know you need to rest. We just want to find out a little more about a couple of things, okay?"

Emma studied Booth's face and then turned her gaze on Brennan. Brennan could not stop staring at Emma, amazed that she was able to speak given her state from earlier in the day. Emma could not seem to stop staring at Brennan either.

"Do I know you?" Emma asked Brennan.

"No, I don't think so," Brennan replied as she glanced over at Booth.

"You look really familiar," Emma responded, positive she knew the woman standing before her. "Wait, did you say Temperance Brennan?" she asked.

"Yes?" Brennan questioned.

Emma was clearly very weak, but she managed a faint smile, "I read your book in my anthropology class at Yale. I knew you looked familiar," Emma replied. "I loved it."

"Well, thank you, Emma," Brennan smiled at the girl, her interest peaked at the fact that she had studied anthropology.

Booth watched this interaction without any intentions of speaking. He smiled at the two women and as he watched them, he noticed them both start to open up to each other as if they already knew each other.

"That seems like a lifetime ago," Emma looked sad, losing herself in thought. Brennan watched her and felt her heartstrings pulled at the sight of this girl. She had gone to Yale? How did she end up a hooker? Brennan silently wondered.

Booth seemed to be reading her mind. "Emma, you just said you went to Yale. How did you go from the Ivy Leagues to being involved with Johnny Red Ramos?" Booth inquired.

Emma glanced up at Booth and then over at Brennan, who was intent to hear her answer. "My father paid for my school. My mom died when I was 5 and he raised me, even though I didn't see him that much; he was always gone. But he paid for Yale and then he disappeared 5 years ago, during my junior year. It was November 18th, he was supposed to meet me for dinner and he didn't show. The local police opened a missing persons file, but they never found anything. He just vanished," Emma's eyes welled with tears, but she fought them back. "I couldn't afford school anymore, so I dropped out. I had some money of my own, but when I ran out, my friend told me about Johnny and I started, well…working for him back in April," she finished. She reached her right hand up and rubbed her neck where it was black and blue. She closed her eyes and let a few tear drops fall onto her cheeks.

"Your father, Emma, what is his name?" Booth asked.

"Andrew. Andy Branson," Emma replied. After a moment, she added, "I know he's dead, I just know it."

Brennan had a flashback to the day her parents had vanished. She had thought they were dead too. At least now, she had some sort of piece of mind, even if her father was on the FBI's Most Wanted list. At least she knew. Emma had no idea, not even a clue as to where her father might be. Emma was coming to the same conclusion that Brennan had come to years ago…a conclusion that she had not wanted to face. Brennan looked at Emma, her pale skin and auburn hair, her bluish-gray eyes. She almost looked like a ghost, which was understandable, given everything she had been through. But Brennan wanted to cry for her and she didn't know why.

"I can look back into your father's file if you would like," Booth told Emma. He looked over at Brennan, knowing instinctively what she must be thinking at this very moment. "Things may surprise you; he isn't necessarily dead. Look, we'll help you on that, okay?" Booth said as he took a seat in one of the chairs.

There was a knock at the door. Brennan went to open it. An agent handed her a photo album. She said thank you and closed the door again.

"They've brought your photo album. You said that there is a picture of your abductor in here?" Brennan questioned as she held the pink and white album in her hands.

"Yes, it was back this summer. We had a party at Johnny's and I was just putting the photos together. I only know him as 'E.' But I thought a photo would help you in identifying him. The pictures are on the fifth or sixth page in there," Emma told Brennan.

"Here, would you like to show me?" Brennan asked.

"I can't really turn the page," Emma said, holding up her wrist, "I'll let you know which one he is," Emma replied.

Brennan took a seat close to Booth and opened the album. Booth moved on to his next question. "We found a necklace in Johnny's hand. Does this look familiar to you?" Booth pulled out the bag and placed it on the bed next to Emma.

Emma's eyes widened and she said, "That's my necklace. My dad gave it to me when I was 10 and I haven't taken it off since. Johnny, he," tears started to form in the corners of her eyes again. She struggled for words. Brennan had stopped on the first page of the album to listen to Emma. "He ripped it off of me…when…he…" tears spilled out of her eyes and she choked on her quiet sobs, "…tried to…strangle me," she managed to sputter as she closed her eyes and brought her hands to her face.

"Hey, it's okay. I know this has been rough, but everyone is taking care of you now, alright?" Booth said ever so gently. Brennan watched and listened, tears welling up in her own eyes.

"Emma, we're here to help you, you know that, right?" Brennan asked the traumatized girl.

Emma looked at Brennan through her blurred tears and pointed down at the album. "Fifth or sixth page. I want you to find him. He'll know," she said quietly, beginning to calm down. Brennan nodded and turned to the next page of the album. Brennan's hand froze on the second page and her gaze fell on the picture staring up at her. The pit in her stomach rose and she felt as if she were going to be sick again.

Booth noticed the look on his partner's face. "Bones, what's wrong?" he asked, worried.

Brennan didn't reply. A look of complete shock fell across her face. She reached underneath the plastic film and took out the picture she had been staring at. She held it up and looked at Emma. "Why do you have this picture?" she asked, almost yelling.

"What do you mean?" Emma replied. "That's my father, that's who I was telling you about. I haven't seen him in nearly 5 years," Emma continued, wiping her face.

Booth looked at the picture and the realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

"No, that's not possible. This man cannot be your father," Brennan raised her voice as she stood up from her seat and the photo album fell to the floor. "Who are you?" she shouted, tears falling from her eyes. "What are you doing here? Did he tell you to do this? Did he tell you to tell these lies so that he could get to me somehow?" Brennan's eyes flashed with anger, confusion, resentment. "What are you trying to do? You know me, don't you?" She made her way closer to Emma's bed as she pointed at the photograph which then fell onto the foot of the bed. Emma's eyes were struck with shock and she looked like a deer caught in the headlights with nowhere to go.

Booth jumped up from his chair, "Alright, Bones, take it easy," he said as he grabbed her shoulders and started to push her towards the door.

"I don't understand. What did I do? That is my father. What is going on?" Emma asked, absolutely astounded.

"How do you know him?" Brennan was continuing to interrogate Emma as Booth pushed her through the door and out of the room.

Emma laid there in the bed, her jaw dropped and her eyes were wide with bewilderment. She reached down to the bottom of the bed and picked up the picture of her father. The picture that Brennan had completely lost it over. The picture of Andy Branson……aka Max Keenan……aka Matthew Brennan……


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Brennan had a wild look in her eyes. "What is he trying to do, Booth? Why would he have this girl, Emma lie to us? Why would he kill Agent Peters and Johnny Red?" Brennan's mind was reeling and she could not stop pacing. Booth had managed to get her to the nearest empty waiting room. It was nearly 1:00 in the morning, Brennan was exhausted, but the anger had taken over all of her senses.

"Slow down, Bones, we don't know anything yet. I've got Cullen pulling the file on Andy Branson right now. We'll have the report within a half hour. We'll see if her story adds up," Booth told Brennan.

Brennan was having none of it. She continued pacing, "Why did I let myself get so close to this case? I actually felt sorry for the girl," Brennan said.

"Hey, Bones, wait a second there. You felt sorry for her because of what she went through. She didn't fake that, you saw her injuries yourself," Booth tried to talk reason with his partner, which is usually what she was good at doing.

"She's lying, Booth. Probably to cover something up for my father. Did she really think that I would buy her story…that the man in that picture is her father? The man in that picture is MY father!" Brennan had stopped pacing and was now standing directly in front of Booth.

"Will you calm down, Bones? You're too emotional and you are jumping to conclusions, which is one thing that you don't do. Doesn't that tell you that you are being a little too emotional?" Booth placed his arms on her shoulders. She moved away from him. Probably not the best thing to say to her in this circumstance, Booth thought after the fact.

"None of this makes ANY sense!" Brennan shouted as she collapsed into one of the standard, uncomfortable waiting room chairs.

"Exactly, so let's just wait and see what the report says about Andy Branson, okay?" Booth sat in a chair next to Brennan.

She stared straight ahead, her elbows on her knees and her hands folded in front of her. Her hair was behind her ear, perfectly framing her face. This day had to be the most confusing day of her life. What was she so mad about, anyway? None of the information added up and really, this Emma Branson had no motive whatsoever to make anything up. Brennan curved her lips and sighed.

"You're right," she finally confessed.

Booth was stunned. He was trying to get her to calm down at best; he never thought he would actually hear what he thought had just heard. "I'm right? Wow, that's a first coming from you," Booth replied.

Brennan clenched her jaw and pursed her lips, thinking about the possible explanations…there simply weren't any. "We'll wait for the report. You asked for everything on Andy Branson?" Brennan asked Booth.

"Yeah, and also," he paused as he looked down toward the floor and then back at Brennan, "everything on your father."

"Yeah, I figured you would do that," she replied. Once again, Booth was amazed. For once, they were completely in sync.

Booth contemplated his next question for a while before actually letting it out, "Bones, did you even think for an instant that maybe, just maybe, Emma is telling the truth?" Booth gave Brennan a meaningful look.

Brennan returned his gaze and sighed once more. "Of course, I did, Booth. I just don't see how it could possibly be true."

"Do you think maybe there is still more you don't know about your father? He led a double life with you and Russ, he could have done it with others as well," Booth was walking a fine line, but he knew it had to be said. "Maybe you have a sister, Bones."

Brennan knew it was actually the most logical explanation to everything that had transpired that day. So many things were running through her mind, she couldn't concentrate very well. The tears returned to the corners of her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by a man entering the waiting room.

"Agent Booth?" the man inquired. He held a brown envelope.

"Yeah, that's me," Booth stood up.

"The file you requested," the man handed them over.

"Thanks," Booth replied. The man left. Booth returned to his seat next to Brennan. He placed the file on the table between them. "You ready for this?" he asked her.

Brennan stared at the envelope sitting on the table. She didn't know what to think. Answers. She just wanted answers at this point. "Can you really be ready for something like this?" she asked him.

Booth gave her a knowing look and proceeded to open the envelope marked "Andrew Branson."

"Andrew Branson. Married to Elizabeth McCauley in 1978. One daughter, Emma Joy Branson, born October 11th, 1980," Booth read off of the file.

Brennan reacted to the name and said, "Joy."

Booth looked over at her. He continued reading as Brennan leaned back in the chair. "Elizabeth Branson killed March 27th, 1986. Car accident," Booth continued, "Emma said her mom died when she was 5. That matches with 1986."

"Yeah," Brennan said, staring again at the ground. Could this girl really be her sister? Well, half sister?

"Andrew Branson went missing on November 18th, 2001. Daughter reported him missing, but no evidence turned up and the case is still officially open," Booth finished as he closed the file. "Now we have to cross reference this with your father's official file, which will take a little more time. You should really get some rest, Temperance," Booth told her as he saw the circles under her eyes and the furrow in her brow.

"Rest, right," she replied, still looking at the ground. "Go home to my empty apartment and lie in bed for 5 hours with thoughts of all of this running through my head. I won't be sleeping, trust me," she added as she started to stand up.

Booth stopped her by placing his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Bones, look at me," he tenderly insisted.

Brennan slowly turned to him. She didn't want to have to deal with any new shockers in her life. She had already found out enough about her father and now there was more to the story? Why couldn't she just have a normal life? Why?

"Booth, I just don't want to have to deal with my father and his past. There's always something new happening. I don't think I'll ever learn everything about him," she said.

"You may not, but if all of this checks out, then look at the bright side," Booth began as he gave her his usual shoulder squeeze, which he seemed to be doing a lot today.

"Which would be what, exactly?" Brennan inquired.

"You might finally have that chance at a family," he finished as he motioned towards Emma's room.

Brennan's smile broke through ever so slightly. He might just be right.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

"Andrew Branson died in 1978. It looks like Max Keenan took his birth certificate and assumed his identity as well. He was married to Elizabeth at the same time he was married to your mother," Booth was explaining to Brennan. She sat at her computer in her office back at the Jeffersonian. They had both gone home to catch some sleep, although Brennan had probably slept all of 1 hour the entire night. It was now 12:38 the following morning.

"So, the only thing left to do is a DNA test, I guess," Brennan replied, leaning forward in her chair. "To be 100 positive."

"Yeah, I've already done that. I rushed it. Results will be in in," he checked his watch, "8 hours now," Booth replied with a genuine smile.

Brennan smiled back. "Thanks, Booth." Brennan held his gaze for a moment as he continued smiling. She raised her eyebrows, "Wow. I have a sister. Well, a half sister, but still……a sister," she said the words as though she had just been given a gift.

"It explains why we found the Columbus coin. Your dad found out about Johnny Red and he didn't want him messing with his daughter. It's just that that daughter wasn't you, Bones," Booth offered. Brennan nodded.

Brennan had come to the realization that she had a sister and truthfully, she was happy. Shocked, but happy. But just as quickly as that realization had come to her, the awareness of the situation hit her even harder. Her expression changed from happiness to worry. Booth noticed the emotional shift.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.

Brennan looked at him intently. "I can't even believe everything she has been through in the past 2 weeks. She was beaten……with a rusty wire. And those monsters, they…" Brennan closed her eyes, envisioning the sight in her mind and then quickly pushing it away, "She was an anthropology student at Yale and now look at her. She became a prostitute and was nearly beaten and strangled to death." Brennan's sisterly instincts were kicking in. "We have to find her abductor, this 'E.'"

"Ernie Raines. That was the next thing I was going to tell you. The picture in Emma's album provided an ID. FBI is bringing him in as we speak," Booth informed Brennan.

"Good. When do we get to interrogate him?" Brennan asked, standing up, a slightly menacing gleam in her eye. She was eager to get the son-of-a-bitch.

"Stay calm, Bones, I can handle the interrogation. Maybe you should go talk to Emma, let her know, well, about everything," Booth suggested.

Brennan had been up all night thinking about what she would tell Emma and she still hadn't come to any conclusions. Now that Booth had found Emma's abductor, she wanted nothing more than to beat the crap out of him. She even surprised herself at how angry she was, but she couldn't help it.

Brennan considered Booth's proposal, balancing the benefits of telling Emma she was her sister and the benefits of possibly kicking Ernie Raines' ass. Rationale told her that she probably shouldn't go anywhere near Ernie Raines. She feared for HIS life.

"Okay, I can do that," she nodded her head as if to convince herself that she was indeed ready to let this girl know about her father's real life and most of all, that she was her sister. "I don't know exactly what I'm going to say, but I guess I'll figure it out."

"You always do, Bones. You know, figure things out. You're pretty smart that way," Booth flashed his charm smile, trying to encourage her.

Brennan smiled back. "Thanks again, Booth. For everything," she told her partner.

"Hey, what are partners for, right?" he said. "Come on, I'll walk out with you," he said and turned towards the door. He looked behind him and saw that Brennan had not moved from her spot. She stood, arms folded across her chest, slightly nodding her head and staring ahead. He watched her for a moment. She had tears in her eyes. He guessed they were a mixture of happiness and grief and astonishment. He walked back to where she stood.

"I don't know what to do. How do I tell someone she's my sister? And that our father kills people as a way of showing his love?" Brennan asked Booth, her cheeks wet with tears.

"You do it like a sister. Like someone who cares. Which you're really good at," Booth answered calmly. "And this might help you break the ice," Booth said as he slid a photograph across the desk to Brennan. It was a picture of a little boy and an even younger girl. The boy was hugging the girl from behind, his arms around her shoulders, a big, bright smile on his face. The girl was in mid-laugh, her mouth half open, eyes wide with laughter. Brennan picked it up.

Brennan wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. "This is me and Russ. I have this picture. Where did you find this?" she asked Booth.

"In Emma's photo album. Look at the back," Booth told Brennan.

She flipped the photo over and it read, "Kyle, age 8 & Joy, age 4. Your brother and sister." It was in her father's handwriting.

"Why did he use our original names? He and my mother changed them when I was 2 and Russ was 6," Brennan wondered aloud.

"He probably wanted his other daughter to know you by the names he gave you," Booth replied.

She looked at Booth. He always had a way of making her feel either extremely irritated or extremely calm. Right now, she was the latter. She could do this and she knew she could. She liked hearing Booth's comforting words, though. It helped……a lot.

"Need a guy hug?" Booth asked, smiling.

Brennan laughed. "That would be good," she replied.

The two embraced and Booth rubbed Brennan's back, slightly stroking her hair. He squeezed ever so slightly. Brennan closed her eyes as she returned the embrace. Smiling, she thought of how much he had done for her. She was so thankful to have him there next to her to see her through this……through everything. He was always there for her; that was one thing she did know.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

Brennan grasped tightly to the four items in her pocket. She stood outside Emma's room, hesitating briefly before knocking. There was no response. She knocked again, and again, nothing happened. She cracked the door slightly and poked her head in.

"Emma?" she asked to the room, aware that Emma may not be all that thrilled to see her. The clock beside the bed read 9:02. Brennan had wanted to wait for the DNA results to get in before talking to Emma.

Emma was lying on her left side, her right hand up on the pillow under her head and her left, cast hand, hanging off of the bed. The gold heart necklace hung from her neck. Her eyes were closed. Maybe she is finally getting some rest Brennan thought. Brennan regarded Emma for a while. She looked at her features. Now that Brennan thought of it, Emma's bone structure was shockingly similar to her own. She had the square jaw line, the perfect nose, the high cheek bones. Brennan smiled at Emma and decided to leave and wait in the waiting room. Just as she opened the door again, Emma stirred.

"Is someone there?" Emma asked, her eyes opening.

"Emma, hi. It's Dr. Brennan," Brennan replied, closing the door once again.

Emma began to sit up, "What are you doing here? Are you here to shout at me some more?" Emma said harshly.

Brennan would not have expected any less. She knew that Emma would not be happy to see her given how she had treated her earlier.

"Do I need your partner to protect me?" Emma asked, a frown on her face.

"No, Emma. Look, I apologize for last night. I," Brennan looked down and crossed her arms, "I jumped to a conclusion when I didn't have all of the facts."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Emma stated, obviously still confused about everything that had taken place between the two of them.

Brennan took a breath before continuing, "I thought that you were lying. I'm sorry-"

"What possible reason would I have to lie? What did you think I was lying about? You freaked out over the picture of my father, I don't get it," Emma said as she accidentally leaned on her left hand to prop herself up. "Ahhh!" Emma winced in pain as she grabbed her wrist.

Brennan reacted in an instant and rushed toward Emma. "Are you alright?" she asked as she reached her hand out.

"Fine. Just not used to my cast yet," Emma replied, glancing away from Brennan and grasping her left hand.

Brennan backed off a little. "I know you are probably extremely confused right now, Emma. That is understandable. I wanted to come by to, well, to tell you some things you need to know," Brennan managed to say.

Emma was still looking the other direction, away from Brennan. "Yeah, like what?" Emma forced herself to look back at the doctor.

"Like why I freaked out when I saw that photo," Brennan replied, emphasizing the words 'freaked out' as they were not her own. "Do you mind if I sit down?" she asked, not wanting to intimidate Emma any further.

"That's fine," Emma replied, softening a little.

Brennan pulled a chair up close to the bed. "Emma, the reason I reacted the way I did is because-" Brennan paused, glancing down at her hands folded in her lap, "-because the man in that photograph is my father," she finished her sentence and looked back over at Emma, the pit in her stomach rising.

Emma stared at Brennan, a look of confusion blanketing her face. "What do you mean, that's your father? That man is my father," Emma responded defiantly.

"I know. He is your father……and he is my father," Brennan informed Emma. She waited a moment before reaching into her pocket. She pulled out two pictures; they were identical. She had searched her keepsake boxes and found her copy of the picture. She handed Emma the photo from her album and then revealed her own copy.

Emma still looked confused, "This is a picture of my brother and sister. They died right before I was born. Why do you have the same picture?" Emma asked.

Brennan sighed, figuring that her father had probably lied to Emma about her siblings. "That's me in the picture and that's my brother," Brennan revealed.

"But your name is Temperance. My sister's name was Joy. I was named after her, Emma Joy Branson," Emma explained, knowing that Brennan must have made some kind of mistake.

"My name was Joy. My father-" Brennan paused before continuing, "-our father changed my name. It's a long story; we can save that for another day."

"What are you telling me here? I don't understand," Emma shook her head.

Brennan gazed at her, trying to find the exact words. She thought that Emma would have figured it out by now, but perhaps she was even more like Temperance. Perhaps she needed things spelled out for her. So Brennan thought of the only thing left to say, "Emma, you and I……we're sisters."

As she finished, she reached back into her jacket pocket and pulled out a gold heart necklace with a diamond in the corner. She held it out for Emma to see. Emma's eyes filled with tears and a few began to spill out onto her cheeks.

"Where did you get that?" Emma asked Brennan.

"My father gave it to me when I graduated from 8th grade. I was 14. You said your dad gave you yours when you were 10. He must have gotten them at the same time," Brennan explained, feeling the pressure building in her eyes.

"It was my 5th grade graduation. He was so proud of me because I skipped 4th grade," Emma responded as she reached out and took Brennan's necklace in her hands. She reached up to her neck and clutched her own.

"But how? I mean, why did he tell me you were dead?" Emma asked Brennan, pleading for answers. She wanted to ask her so much more.

"All I know is that he was married to your mother at the same time he was married to mine. I just found this out today. I don't know why he told you we were dead. Maybe it was just easier for him," Brennan explained.

Emma handed Brennan back the necklace, still grasping tightly to her own. "Where is Kyle? Or, wait, that's not his name?" Emma asked.

"Russ, it's Russ. I think he is with our father. I haven't spoken to him in months. He and I, we grew apart and we sort of reunited and then, he took off again," Brennan informed Emma. "It really is a long story. I don't want you to be too overwhelmed with everything. You have already been through so much," Brennan said, wiping her cheeks.

Emma mirrored Brennan and brushed her own cheeks with the back of her right hand.

Brennan watched Emma's face as the realization came upon her. It was like the clouds had lifted and Brennan saw a faint smile begin to spread across Emma's face. Another tear escaped Brennan's pools of blue-gray.

"You're my sister," Emma said, almost questioning, not quite sure whether she should actually believe it. She looked at Brennan as the tears continued to flow.

"Yes," Brennan said simply, confirming to herself the actual truth of what she had learned in the past 24 hours. "This is a copy of the DNA results if you need more proof," Brennan said as she pulled the paper out of her pocket and handed it to Emma. She smiled at Emma, a knowing look on her face.

Emma took the paper and looked at it. She returned the smile and reached for Brennan's hand. Brennan looked down at Emma's right hand, dressed in fresh gauze. She took Emma's hand in hers and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Thank you," Emma told Brennan, hope reflecting in her eyes.

"For what? I didn't do anything," Brennan replied genuinely. Emma simply smiled and gave Brennan's hand a squeeze back.

"Saving my life," Emma replied.

"I didn't do-" Brennan began to say, but Emma cut her off.

"I used to imagine playing with my sister when I was little. I used to pretend she-" Emma paused, "-you were there with me and we would go on all sorts of adventures. We were always there for each other, no matter what," Emma continued. "I used to talk to you up in Heaven, if there is such a place. I'd always ask you questions and pretend like you answered," Emma's face lit up as she talked about her sister, who now sat before her, holding her hand.

"I'm here to answer you now," Brennan reassured Emma. "I'm here to make up for lost time." Brennan got up out of the chair and leaned over to give Emma a hug. Emma returned it with open arms.

"Thank you," she said again as she grasped tightly onto her newfound sister.

Brennan surprised herself at how quickly she took to the idea of having a sister. But, like Booth had said, maybe for once in her adult life, she would have a chance at a family……


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

2 MONTHS LATER

"And now a toast to the brave, the beautiful, and the effervescent Emma Branson," Angela raised a glass of champagne over the table.

"Hear hear!" Hodgins joined in. All 6 of them clinked glasses.

Emma blushed. "I'm not that brave. Tempe was the one who kept me sane up on that witness stand," Emma credited her sister.

"Uh-uh, no way, it was all you," Temperance replied through a sip of her champagne. "All I care about is that the S-O-B is in jail," she added.

They had all gathered in the upper part of the lab at the Jeffersonian. Emma had been preparing to testify for almost 2 months and Temperance had been there for her every step of the way. Booth had done everything he could to get the trial moved up. He didn't want Emma (and Brennan) to suffer any longer than she had to. Finally, the verdict had come in: Guilty. Ernie Raines was going away for life for kidnapping and rape charges. He was cleared of the murder of Agent Mark Peters and Johnny Red. The team had concluded that Johnny Red had killed Agent Peters and Max Keenan had killed Johnny Red. Of course, Max was nowhere to be found.

Angela had wanted to do something special to boost Emma's morale, so she had bought champagne (it was always important to have alcohol involved in a celebration, as far as Angela was concerned) and way too much Wung Foo's.

"Yeah, you were great, kid," Booth said, stretching back in the couch and undoing his tie. He had taken to calling her "kid" over the past 2 months. She kinda liked it.

"I think you were extremely brave," Zack said to Emma, a girlish grin on his face. He sat next to her and had leaned in to speak. As he finished his sentence, his hand slipped from the grip on his seat and he fell sideways, but managed to stay in the chair. He froze in his spot, glancing away from Emma and clenching his lips and jaw. His face turned a vivid shade of red.

Angela stifled a laugh as she glanced over at Hodgins, who was trying hard not to spout off a comment. Booth and Brennan looked at each other, both snickering.

Emma smiled and bit back a laugh. "Thanks, Zack," she said as she lifted her fist into the air.

Zack remained frozen in his current position, but his eyes glanced over at Emma, and they fell on her eyes (why was he always looking at her eyes?) and then to her fist. He smiled and joined his fist with hers.

"So, when are you gonna ask her out, Zack?" Booth asked suddenly.

Zack's eyes went wide and he froze yet again. "I don't know what you're talking about, Agent Booth," Zack said as he smiled sheepishly back at Emma.

"Give him a break, Booth," Brennan chimed in.

Booth put his hands in the air. "What? I thought someone should ask," he responded, nonchalantly.

"Okay, this party officially needs more champagne. I'm going downstairs to get more," Angela announced, interrupting the awkwardness that was about to take place.

"Wait for me!" Hodgins said and followed after Angela like a puppy dog.

"And that would be my cue to leave. Just so you know, Emma, the squint squad can get pretty, well……squinty," Booth informed her as he got up from the couch.

"I don't know what that means," Emma said, quizzically.

"Ah……like sister, like sister," Booth replied as he started to leave.

Emma shrugged and then glared at Brennan, willing her to look over at her. When she did, Emma widened her eyes and motioned toward Booth with her head. Brennan scrunched her face and she furrowed her brow and mouthed, "what?" Emma motioned again, this time more defiantly, widening her eyes even more. Brennan glared back at Emma and mouthed, "fine."

"Booth, I'll walk with you," Brennan said and got up with him. Emma smiled and Brennan pursed her lips, swatting Emma on the shoulder as she passed her.

"Good night, kid," Booth told Emma.

"Good night, Booth. Thanks for everything," Emma replied and stood to hug him.

"And Zack, don't forget…use words, not strange noises," Booth told him, wrinkling his face.

Zack rolled his eyes upwards and smiled sheepishly, once again, at Emma. Emma simply grinned back at him.

"She seems to be doing well," Booth said to Brennan as they walked along the top of the lab. "Zack could use a little work on his approach, though."

Brennan laughed. "I think she is doing well. A lot of that is thanks to you, you know," Brennan told him.

"Nah, all I did was get the trial moved up. You gave her the courage to do what she did up there today," Booth said, putting his suit jacket on. "You saved her life, Temperance."

"I don't know about saving her life, but I couldn't have encouraged her if it weren't for you," Brennan said as she stopped walking. They both stood there for a moment, gazing at each other.

"Me?" Booth asked.

"I'm serious, Booth. I don't know how I could have gotten through the past couple of months without you," Brennan confided. "Everything you've done for Emma has been, well, amazing." She glanced down for a moment, thinking of everything she and Emma had talked about. Emma had told her to tell him, encouraged her to let him know how she felt. It was Emma who had made Temperance realize how she felt about Booth. It wasn't just now that he had done everything he could possibly do for her……it was always. He always saved her; he was always there. Emma told her it was "about time you tell your FBI knight in shining armor how you feel." Something similar to what Angela had told her before.

"Eh, you would have made it through," Booth was still being lighthearted while Brennan was getting more serious.

"But probably not in one piece," Brennan added. "You know you're the one that holds me together, right?"

Booth was slightly taken aback to hear his partner say those words. His lips began to curve upwards into a smile. Brennan's face was severe, but gentle. He looked at her, not knowing quite what to say. "No, actually, I didn't know that," he finally replied.

"With everything, you are the one thing in my life that has been solid. That had never happened to me before. I was so used to, I don't know, chaos?" Brennan divulged. "Then you came into my life and even when things were bad, you were there. You're still here."

"And you know I'll continue to be here, right?" Booth asked his partner.

"Yes, I do. That's what I have realized. You're the one constant in this crazy thing we call life. I-I don't know why you've stayed, but I know that I'm glad you have," Brennan told Booth.

Booth's heart jumped. Maybe this was the time to tell her. "Bones, I've never even thought about staying or not staying. You're a part of my life, that's all that matters. I do what I do because I care about you," he told her, stopping short of what he truly wanted to say.

Brennan held his gaze for a few moments before continuing, "Well, I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate it." She paused and shifted her feet before continuing, "Booth, I don't know exactly how to say this, but-" Brennan looked away from him, glancing down at the floor and through to the lab below. She opened her mouth and licked her lips, closing her eyes to think of how exactly to proceed.

Booth continued to watch her as she stumbled for words. She was pretty darn cute when that huge brain of hers couldn't function properly.

"I don't know what I'm feeling exactly, I just know that when I'm around you, I-I feel……safe. I feel," she closed her eyes and opened them again, "complete." The words sounded so silly to her as she said them. She shook her head, "That sounds completely ridiculous, doesn't it?" she asked.

Booth was trying hard not to laugh. He looked at her and couldn't help but think of how sweet she was being. His face broke into a wide smile. Not a charm smile, but a genuine and entirely sincere smile. The smile he had given her a million times before, but this time, it truly meant something.

"No, Bones, it doesn't sound ridiculous," he told her as he put his finger on her chin, lifting her head back up so her eyes met his.

She stared into his warm brown eyes, noticing just how handsome he truly was. Her heart fluttered in her chest. She smiled as a tear came to her eye and slowly trickled out of the corner. Booth smiled and wiped the tear away with his thumb.

"Booth, I just-" Booth's lips met hers before she could finish her sentence. His lips were so soft and warm. She sighed as she fell into his kiss. He reached his hands up to the sides of her face and gently brushed her hair back, stroking her cheeks. Her right hand found the base of his neck. This was what it felt like to really love someone. This was the most wonderful feeling in the whole world, Brennan discovered. Her lips softly grazed his again and again, her body quivering with each touch.

He ran his fingers through her soft, brown hair. Kissing her was the most amazing sensation he had ever felt. Her lips were so soft and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her for ever. This was it……everything he had ever wanted……in his arms.

After a long while, Booth and Brennan slowly pulled out of the kiss. Brennan's eyes fluttered open. Booth returned his finger to her chin and smiled longingly at her. "You were saying?" he said, smirking slightly.

"I was saying something?" Brennan replied, returning his smirk.

Then, Booth added, "I love you, Temperance."

With tears tugging at her eyes, Temperance smiled and said, "I love you, too, Booth."

Booth smiled for a moment longer before speaking again, "Well good, now that that's finally settled, how about a night cap?" he asked, charm smile in full gear, as he draped his left arm over her shoulders.

Brennan laughed and put her head on his shoulder. "Yeah, that sounds good."

Booth and Brennan continued their walk, his arm around her. She stole a kiss on the cheek as they made their way to the top of the stairs and off into the night.


End file.
